Ecclesiastical Institutes, Homilies; England (Worcester), s. xi 2, glossed s. xiii 1

Title

Ecclesiastical Institutes, Homilies; England (Worcester), s. xi 2, glossed s. xiii 1

Shelfmark

MS. Junius 121

Place of origin

England, Worcester, cathedral priory

Date

additions, s. xiii 1

s. xi 2 (Watson suggests between 1064 and 1083)

Language

Latin

Old English (ca. 450-1100)

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

vii + 161 + i

Hands

The bulk of the manuscript (fols 5–137) is written by one hand (Ker's Hand 1, Ker 1957, item 338, at p. 417), apparently the same as the main hand of Hatton 113 and Hatton 114 ( Ker 1957, item 331). There are a number of additions (glosses and larger pieces) to the manuscript by at least ten other hands.

Hand 1. Fols 5–137 Ker describes this as a Worcester script; this hand is also found in other Worcester manuscripts including CCCC 178 (1957, p. 417: see also item 41). The 'possible change of hand' on fol. 111 seems to be simply a thicker pen, although ð is slightly different; the overall appearance is similar to Hand 2. same occasional high a The shape of the second element of æ is influenced by the letter which succeeds it. e is round-backed or horned depending on its place in the word and the following letter. Wide tail on g . s is slightly wedgier. The descender of þ is notched. Most ascenders except that of þ are clubbed, but some ascenders have wedged clubs and some are wedged; for example, on h and b , in English and Latin. Some erasures, some additions: found throughout the manuscript. gesƿraecan Added interlinearly. The colour of the added letter a is paler than the main text. It might have been added at a later stage.

Hand 2. Fols 1v–2v This is very like the main hand; in fact, since the first folios are in Latin and much of Hand 1 is written in Old English, the two are not always directly comparable. Where Hand 1 writes in Latin there are similar features: some mixing of clubs and wedges; slant on Caroline h , wedgy p , wide open g . Some letters are distinct enough to suggest that these are two separate hands: more of a wedge on long s has a long descender in this hand. x has a long descender in this hand.

Hand 3. Fols 148v/10–22; 150r; 150v/16–151r; 152r–3v; 154r/17–154v/12 This hand is angular and upright, the letters are quite narrow, it is possibly the hand of Hemming ( Ker 1948, p. 417). The top of e in æ is very high. d has a very short and tiny ascender. g has an open bowl. h has very tiny feet. Long s is sometimes almost flat-topped. The orum abbreviation slants downwards.

Hand 4. Fols 3–4 This is quite a rounded Caroline script, wedges and clubs are not mixed (unlike in other hands in this manuscript). The orum abbreviation is straight.

Hand 5. Fols 4r–v This hand has long loopy descenders and wedges. Occasionally a big loopy Caroline a .

Hand 6. Fols 138r–48v This is quite like Hand 2, and just possibly could be the same as it, except that this hand seems less practised. This hand is rounder than Hand 1 and sometimes leans to the right slightly. ð tends to flick to the right.

Hand 7. Fols 149r–v; 150v/1–15; 151v This hand has wedges on the feet of minims. ˥ is almost at right-angles. The descenders don't usually have wedges on their feet. On fol 150v/1–15 possibly a thinner pen. y : curves to the left noticeably. g : has a closed bowl. Long s : very high and has quite a long descender, too. Very wedgy. This is similar to Hands 1 and 2, but quite thick.

Hand 8. Fols 154r/1–16 Uneven hand. The letters are not always firmly on the ruled line. Ascender on d very short long. Has a high e , slightly left-leaning. a few. Odd ð where the scribe has drawn o and then added an ascender. Closed bowl on g . Long descenders .

Hand 9. Fols 154v–157 This scribe is not good at writing on the lines. This is a left-leaning, flowing script. a : round. æ : round. Open g . High long s sometimes with descender drooping below the line. ˥ is high. The top of ð curls round to the right. The bottoms of the descenders flick to the left . y long and left-flicking Chunky feet on minims .

Hand 10. Fols 157–60 This hand is quite square and wedgy. d the ascender is short. y is long and flicks to the left The bowl of g is open.

Hand 11. There are several layers of glosses by the Tremulous Hand in Latin and English. xiii 1

Decoration

Coloured initials, sometimes with a little decoration. Some blue initials, e.g. fol. 124v; also numerous green and red intials, often used alternately in a text (presumably to highlight sections for reading).

Musical notation

Neums, fol. 1r, occasionally elsewhere in the margins.

Binding

Bound, s. xviii , in blind-tooled brown leather (Ure 1957, p. 3)

Acquisition

Passed to Franciscus Junius, 1589–1677 , and acquired after his death by the Bodleian Library in 1678.

Provenance

Written at Worcester, as evidenced by the script. At Worcester cathedral priory in the thirteenth century, when annotated by the Tremulous Hand. Referred to as a book of 'Worcester Librarye' in 1566 and catalogued at Worcester by Patrick Young in 1622–3 (see Ker). The manuscript was annotated by Joscelyn (fol. 86v, etc.) and perhaps by Archbishop Parker (fol. 4) (Ker).

In the possession of Christopher Lord Hatton in 1644, when used by Dugdale (Bodl. MS. Dugdale 29, fol. iv verso, as cited by Ker). There are notes by Dugdale on fol. iii recto and by Langaine on fols. ii verso, iii recto.

Title

Old English canons and constitutions

Shelfmark

MS. Junius 121

Summary

Old English canons and constitutions, perhaps written by 'Wulfgeatus scriptor Wigornensis' (fol. 101), as MSS. Hatton 113-114. The latest document is the Council of Winchester, A.D. 1076, but this is on a sheet which may have been added (fol. 4). The contents are:

Fol. 1. canons, including (fol. 2v) the Council of Winchester and penitential canons printed-the latter from this MS.-in Wilkins, Concilia, i. 366-7

Fol. 5. Rubrics to the Polity (fol. 9), Penitential (fol. 69), and Confessional (fol. 87)

Fols. 55v-6 are a translation of the Regula canonicorum (lib. i, cap. 145) of Amalarius of Metz, for which see Karl Jost in Anglia, lvi. 267

Fol. 101v. the canons of Aelfric, with a gap of some leaves after fol. 110v, edited by Fehr, Bibliothek der angelsächsischen Prosa, ix. 1-32, followed by other pieces by Aelfric, ed. Fehr, 146-221 (fol. 111), and Assmann, Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben, pp. 4-12 (fol. 124)

Fol. 130v. homilies, of which fols. 136v-7v are printed by Napier, Wulfstan, xii (16), and fols. 138-48v, 157-60 by Thorpe, Homilies, i. 600, ii. 438

On fol. 1 is a trope to Benedicamus, with notation in neum-accents (late 11th cent.). Fol. vi contains the Nicene creed in the Worcester 'tremulous hand', as described by C. H. Turner, Early Worcester MSS. (1910), pp. lvi-lvii, which has inserted Old English glosses (13th cent.) throughout this volume. These are printed by S. J. Crawford in Anglia, vol. 52, with a facsimile.

There is also a contemporary list of Latin hymns and their authors, beg. 'Robertus rex Francorum Victime Pascali', and a table of contents by Dugdale (fol. iii).

Date

Written in the early 11th century at Worcester

Language

Multiple languages

Latin

Old English (ca. 450-1100)

Physical facet

On parchment, binding, blind-tooled brown leather, 17th-cent. English work, with illuminated initials

Physical extent

161 Leaves

Custodial history

This MS. was perhaps not originally part of the Junius collection (Wood's Life and Times, ed. A. Clark, vol. iii, p. 239 and note). According to Wood it was bought from Scott the bookseller by Fell, who probably gave it to the Bodleian between the date of Junius's bequest (1675) and his own death (1686). Now MS. Junius 121.